Stalking is bad
by itsnnoah
Summary: She didn't know what upset her more, the fact that Jason freaking Todd, the undead Robin, had caught her sneaking up on him or the fact that she'd lost one of her papers.


Stephanie had known who Jason Todd was since day one.

Well, maybe not since day _one_ , because apparently everyone wanted her safe and sound in her house—though safe and sound weren't precisely the first words that appeared in her mind when she thought of _house_ , anyway—and out of her Spoiler suit and of the streets as well, so it took Tim and the rest a bit to open up to her about the second Robin, but _anyway_.

It was Dick the one who told her about Jason the first time, and they'd been talking about him for hours. It was not only that Dick wanted to talk, but it was also Stephanie's curiosity; she asked a thousand questions about him, because she actually _remembered_ Jason. She remembered noticing the change of Robins—when she was about nine or ten years old, she had Dick as Robin, remembered his acrobatics movements, his amazing jumps. But then it changed, and now it was a less acrobatic Robin, one that talked harsher and beat criminals harder. Stephanie once jumped from the kitchen table of her house because she wanted to fly like these Robins, and she ended up with a broken arm.

She told this to Dick, and Dick told her a lot of things about Jason. It was cute, hearing him talking about his little brother, and all the memories he kept of him, and Stephanie wished she'd met him when he was alive.

Tim told her about the suit in the cave and the way he was killed. Dick hadn't talked about this, only about happy and warm memories, whereas Tim told her the sad details. Jason's origins. His family. The Joker hitting him with a crowbar, the explosion. He told her that the suit was put in the cave to remind Bruce what happened, to keep it from happening to anyone else—such a _good_ job it had done, though.

Then she became Robin, then she _died_ , and then Jason Todd was back in the city.

Stephanie hadn't known it was him—she'd just heard of a new criminal that went chopping heads around town, and tried to avoid him because, _duh_. He sliced heads, and she liked hers very much, thank you. So she patrolled with Tim, patrolled alone, always going to places she knew the Red Hood wouldn't be in, until one day they crossed paths. More or less.

It'd been almost a year since he chopped any heads, so she didn't fear him as much as she'd had. Stephanie was waiting for Tim on a rooftop when she heard shouting under her—she took a peak and kind of freaked out when she saw the Red Hood punching some guys. He didn't scare her as much, yeah, but he still did. A little. Whatever. So she just looked until Tim arrived and peaked with her. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"That's the Red Hood," she whispered too. "Should we stop him?"

And Tim. He just _laughed_. "Jason? Leave him be."

That's how she was notified that Jason Todd had come back to life, and Stephanie was just… perplexed. Too excited, maybe, because now that she knew he was back in Gotham she really wanted to talk to him, to say something, even though he had decapitated some people, even though he still _killed_ people. Stephanie knew that she was supposed to be more afraid, more aware of the situation, the fact that this man who'd been Robin had become a killer, but she still couldn't help her excitement.

So she started going on patrol alone, and kind of… followed him. Well, maybe _follow_ wasn't the right word. Stephanie just happened to be in the same neighbourhood he dealt with criminals—she started picking the same cases he worked in and followed the trails, always finding him at the end. Stephanie didn't interact with him, only got into a building close to his work zone and watched him as he punched the bad guys or shot his way out of an ambush or both.

She wasn't Cass, so Stephanie didn't actually know how to read body language. She knew, however, that this guy was _angry_. She'd got Damian to tell her the story of Jason's comeback to life and the reason he killed all those people at first, and Stephanie… she would never say this in front of Bruce, but she _understood_. This man who had died at the hands of one of the worst criminals in the world and hadn't been avenged by his father—she tried to put herself in his place, feel the pain he must have been feeling when he came back, and it sent shivers down her spine. Not that Stephanie approved of his methods, but at least she understood _why_ he did what he did.

Once, after having been spying—stalking— _looking_ at him fighting for three weeks, Stephanie was writing a paper for university on the rooftop of a two-stories building—she preferred the cold air and loneliness of the city rather than the library, always so full of people—when she heard shouting below her. She looked down only to see a guy in black running with a gun in his hand. Stephanie grunted only thinking that she would have to leave her homework on the rooftop to go after him when the Red Hood came into scene.

He was carrying a gun too, but the man in black looked back and shot Jason a couple of times. "Ooh, you just did _that_ ," she muttered to herself, smirking. She didn't know what he'd done—something bad, she guessed, if Jason was running after him—but she enjoyed seeing this. Jason ended up catching him, punched the man unconscious, and… Stephanie couldn't help but bark a laugher, because the guy took the criminal's gun and put it in one of the pockets of his jacket. She guessed he was low in guns.

It was all good, because he hadn't caught her looking at him not one time in these three weeks and she was somehow learning new fight techniques. And it all would have continued to be good if only one of her papers wouldn't have gone flying straight into his fucking face.

"Fuck." She tried to hide, but was pretty sure he'd already seen her. "Shit, shit, _shit_." Now he was going to go to her and murder her, Stephanie was sure. Oh god, this had been such a shitty life, she deserved at least a few years more.

She didn't know what upset her more, the fact that Jason freaking Todd, the undead Robin, had caught her sneaking up on him or the fact that she'd lost one of her papers. She would have to rewrite the whole thing, and it was due in three hours. Goddammit. She should have gone to the library.

Jason didn't come, so Stephanie thought it would be as good a moment as any to run to her house and start again with her homework. Maybe the Red Hood would pity her and let her live.

At some point after having finished writing the essay, Stephanie fell asleep—she didn't even bother to go to bed.

She'd had a dream in which the Red Hood wrapped a blanket around her shoulders before she fell asleep and then jumped into her bed. In the dream he said, "You're so _not_ like the bats," and Stephanie could've sworn that his voice was the most realistic voice one of the boys she dreamed about had ever had. His voice had been muffled because of the helmet, but it'd also sounded boyish, and Stephanie had to remember herself that he wasn't even twenty. She'd thought profoundly about the muscles she couldn't see under his clothes but noticed anyway.

"Hmm," she muttered when she felt a blanket over her shoulders. _Weird_ , she thought, a little freaked out, before realizing that her mother must've put it there—she must've seen her sleeping on her desk, all cold and tired, and decided to put a blanket over her. Totally normal. It happened all the time.

"Jesus fucking Christ you sleep like the _dead_."

It was morning. Morning. The bats didn't go out in the _morning_. Stephanie closed her eyes and tried not to scream, because she was really, completely sure that she wasn't, couldn't be, hearing Jason Todd's voice right now because he of course wasn't in her bedroom. It was a hallucination. It _had_ to be a hallucination. Her _mom_ had put the blanket around her shoulders.

"Y'know, it's not polite to ignore guests," the hallucination added, and Stephanie covered her face with her hands and groaned. Loudly.

" _Oh my god_."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, that's what girls usually say when I'm around."

He was so going to kill her.

She slowly turned the chair she was sat in around, and saw the guy lying on her bed, the red helmet put aside. He grinned mischievously and Stephanie's first thought was, annoyingly, how handsome he was. Because, _come on_ , he was lying there without a care in the world, hair messy and blue eyes shining, lips turned upwards; for a second, she forgot that he was probably going to kill her for having spied on him three weeks in a row and thought that this was her Robin, the one she'd gaped at her entire childhood. He totally looked like the bad guys from bad rom-coms.

"You dropped this," he said, waving a paper in the air. Stephanie couldn't see what was written in it, but she was pretty sure it was the lost part of her essay. "I thought to myself, _hey, Todd, this girl has been stalking you for weeks, it wouldn't be nice if you didn't return this_. So."

This was without a doubt the most embarrassing moment of her life. And she'd had a couple of those.

"What, cat got you tongue?" he teased. He crossed his ankles and Stephanie was tempted to tell him to put his feet off her bed. " _Spoiler alert_ ," he said, "you're a weirdo."

She didn't know what impressed her more, the fact that he'd made a whole conversation without her saying a word or that he knew she was the Spoiler. Oh, this was uncomfortable. Like. Stephanie was tempted to jump from the window.

"Listen, I love to talk, I really do, but this is kinda boring." He got to his feet, and he was—fuck, he had a gun in his hand. She hadn't talked, and now he was going to kill her? This was totally fucked up.

"I thought you only, like, got out at night," she blurted out, and Jason smirked.

"You've been stalking me, you should know," he shot back.

"I _wasn't_!" Okay, maybe that wasn't the most intelligent thing to say right now. "I was just curious."

" _Curious_."

"Well, _duh_. You came back from the dead and chopped off heads as a hobby, who wouldn't be curious?"

She just had to go _there_.

Tim had told her a million times that she talked too much, but she'd never thought that it would be a problem until now. Stephanie didn't think she was actually bothering him or something, because even though Jason was holding a motherfreaking gun he looked like he was enjoying himself. Well. Some animals played with the prey before eating it. Jason wasn't going to eat her, but the point was the same.

Jason raised a brow, and Stephanie's lips quirked upwards. "How did you know I was there? I was very careful."

He snorted. "Yeah, and I'm a weasel." Okay, no need to be _rude_. "I saw you all the time. And last night? You laugh very loudly."

She had to admit that laughing while watching him catch some guy wasn't her smoothest move, but he had to give her a little credit—Stephanie was sure that he was bluffing. She'd been sneaky as hell, and he couldn't possibly have heard her before last night; she liked to talk, but not while spying on someone. She was a very good spy.

Stephanie was about to ask what was he doing in her house when Jason scratched the back of his head with the barrel of the gun which was, honestly, the most idiotic thing she'd seen someone do _ever_. "Show-off," she mumbled.

"What?" he asked, and he looked troubled, like if she had just insulted him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in return.

Jason sighed and sat on the bed, left the pistol at his side. Stephanie wondered if she could get to it before him and came to the conclusion that no. She probably couldn't, though she was starting to think that he wasn't going to kill her, because if he was, he would have killed her already—he was crazy, but Stephanie didn't think he would leave the gun away if he wanted to shoot her.

He opened his mouth to talk, but Stephanie had just thought about something and had to spit it out. "Wait, did _you_ cover me with the blanket?"

When he blushed slightly Stephanie grinned real big, because _mission accomplished, dumbass_. Now she could die happily, having made the undead Robin that went around slicing heads _blush_. He brushed his hair with a hand, and Stephanie noticed for the first—which proved that she could never be a detective as great a Bruce—time that Jason had a white streak very noticeable. She was pretty sure that it hadn't been there in the pictures of him at Wayne Manor.

"You looked cold," he muttered under his breath, and Stephanie barked a laugh. This couldn't be the murderer she'd been told about so many times.

"Creepy," she muttered, though she was smiling. Jason rolled his eyes and sighed, like if he were really appalled. "Being soft isn't bad," Stephanie added just because a grumpy Jason Todd was fun to watch.

He looked ready to jump from the window. "Listen," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Tomorrow, this man I've being following for a couple of months—"

"The Italian guy?"

"… no. He's supposed to meet this girl I, like, was partners with. But yesterday she said she doesn't want to get involved, and I—"

"You need a _bait_ ," she deadpanned, kind of disappointed.

" _More or less_ , yes. You'll help me corner him so—"

"You can kill him?"

His face was red, but she could tell it wasn't embarrassment causing it exactly. " _Yes_."

"Yeah, well, _no_." What did he think, that just because she'd been following him around for the past three weeks she was going to become his partner in crime? One thing was leaping from buildings dressed in purple, but another thing completely was participating in a murder. Stephanie admired this man when he was a boy following a bat, but that didn't mean she would help him kill someone. No way. "I'm not a killer."

He snorted. "Whatever." Oh wow, now she wanted to punch him. "We'll send him to the cops if you want. Are you going to help me or not?"

Had he just… given up? So easily? It wasn't likely, but _okay_. She'd have to keep an eye on him.

"And what am I supposed to do? Just stand there and look pretty? Because, you know," she paused, and whispered, " _I'm not an object_."

She could tell Jason was starting to consider murdering her instead of this guy. He said, "No, you're going to pretend to be the girl he's supposed to be meeting, and when he enters the alleyway—"

"Oh my god, so it's _that_ kind of smuggling."

"—I jump in from wherever I'm going to be and we _both_ take him down."

It sounded like a plan, but… "Don't you think he's going to notice something is wrong when he sees me wearing my suit?"

"You call that a suit?" Stephanie glared at him, and Jason continued. "You're not going to be wearing your _costume_." Son of a… "You can wear, I don't know, whatever you want. But not your Spoiler costume."

Stephanie had the feeling that it was all a bad idea, but she nodded nonetheless; she'd imagined Jason to be a Bad Guy, someone who chopped heads out of spite, but he didn't look so bad—if you weren't counting the gun. Maybe she was proved wrong again tomorrow night when he didn't kill this guy, and if he changed his mind… Stephanie was sure—like, eighty-eight percent sure—that she could stop him from doing so. At least that's what she hoped, because if Bruce heard that she'd been hanging around with the Red Hood and he'd killed someone while they were together, she was sure Batman was going to put a batarang between her eyes.

"I'll be here tomorrow at eleven p.m."

She flashed him a smile. "So it's a _date_."

Jason got up, picked up his gun from her bed and walked to the window. Before he jumped from it, he turned to her and said, "Fuck you," and Stephanie couldn't help thinking how weird this guy was.

* * *

"He _what_?"

That was it, Barbara was the one who was going to murder her. Or him. Stephanie didn't really know who she was more pissed at. Maybe she killed both of them. Maybe she killed herself.

"He seemed nice?" Stephanie offered, even though the first ten minutes she'd been talking to Jason she'd thought he was going to murder her. Why did she think _everyone_ was going to murder her? "I mean, he was carrying a gun and all that shit, but he was _completely_ harmless to me."

Babs pinched the bridge of her nose, and Stephanie threw a chip at her. "Don't be mad, it's not like I followed him or something to catch his attention."

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best argument she could have used. Babs sighed. "That's why we never introduced you two to each other. Because disaster was going to come next."

"Hey!" she complained, though she was probably right. "Dead Robins have to stick together."

"You weren't dead," Babs reminded her.

"But everyone thought I _was_ ," Stephanie remembered her.

"You don't know him?" Babs tried.

"Come on, I'm just going to help him solve a case."

"That's the thing with Jason, his way of solving cases is killing the one who's committing the crime."

"He told me he wouldn't," she muttered, but even to her ears it sounded lame.

Part of her knew Babs was right—this was Jason Todd they were talking about, the infamous dead Robin. All of the members of the bat-clan had told her how awesome he'd been, how intelligent and funny and good-hearted, but all of them had also told her that he'd come different from the Pit, that he wasn't anything he'd been before. Bruce specially had told her to keep herself away from him. Tim once told her what happened between father and son when son came back, pistols blazing, heads chopped, and Stephanie understood why he didn't ant her near him, but she wasn't Robin, not since a long time, and she wasn't going to follow everything he told her. Plus, Stephanie working with Jason would definitely make him mad, so... it was an easy decision, really.

And even though she'd seen Jason grabbing a gun this morning, Stephanie had also seen him scratching the back of his head with said gun, which was more of an _idiot_ move than a _murderer_ move. She'd seen him shooting at criminals, putting bullets in heads, but she could understand him. He'd been Robin, followed the no-killing-rule for years, and it'd got him killed. The method hadn't worked, and now he was trying a new one. It was… _understandable_ , if not a little fucked up.

"What are you thinking?" asked Babs, taking a sip from her coffee.

"I'm going to help him," Stephanie declared, and she could picture Babs screaming inside her head. "Just to see how it goes. If he kills him, then I'm out. Pinkie promise."

Barbara sighed profoundly, so Stephanie threw her another chip that Babs caught with her _mouth_. Legends only, really. When she was finished eating it, she mumbled, "I'm going to regret this."

* * *

Stephanie was glad that she didn't have to wear her Spoiler cost— _suit_ , because her mom was at home.

She was supposed to be working, but she said that she'd taken the night off. To stay with Stephanie. She said she'd prepared hot chocolate and popcorns so they could see together this movie on TV, and when Stephanie got out of her room dressed with something that wasn't her pyjamas, her mom's face saddened. "Where are you going?"

"Um. I'm, you know, mom, I'm—"

"Are you going on a date?"

"No, mom, I'm—"

"You should've told me!" Okay, she was going on a date, at least that made her mom happy. "Sweetheart, why don't you put on some makeup? Ooh, I have this beautiful skirt that's going to fit you _so_ well. And I think I still have a lipstick your aunt gave me that's really beautiful."

So before her mom got her hands dirty, Stephanie was wearing jeans, a top and a jacket. That simple. But after her mom got her hands dirty, Stephanie was wearing a motherfreaking skirt—how in hell was she supposed to fight with a skirt?—a white top, boots and, she had to admit, a super cool denim jacket with a flower printed in it. Her mom had tied up her hair into a ponytail and Stephanie had borrowed some loop earrings she didn't intend to give back.

The only thing she really, really hated about what her mom had done to her was the makeup. She had her eyes painted and her cheeks flushed and her lips were glossed with the brightest red ever. It wasn't that she didn't like makeup; she loved makeup. It was that she didn't like makeup when it was on her face.

"You look beautiful," her mom said, and Stephanie was afraid she would start crying, so she suggested seeing the movie until Jason arrived. It was only 10:20p.m., so they sat in the sofa, drank hot chocolate and ate some popcorns. Her mom said, "Remember to brush your teeth before you go out," and Stephanie rolled her eyes because of course she would brush her teeth before leaving.

It was a good film, and Stephanie was all kinds of annoyed when the doorbell rang—she'd thought Jason would come in by the window like before, and was also dismayed when she realized that he would have to say hi to her mom, who thought he was her date. Oh boy. What if the was wearing his _helmet_?

She pretended not to hear the bell and kept drinking from the mug, but her mom turned to her with a puzzling look on her face. "Didn't you hear the doorbell?"

Stephanie waved her hand in the air. "Shh, mom, this is the best part of the movie." It wasn't. The main character was talking about his crush to a friend, and it was the most boring dialogue Stephanie had ever heard.

"Come on!" Her mom jumped from the sofa and ran to the door. "I really want to meet him!"

"Mom, _no_." But it was too late, she'd already opened the door. She ran to the door and thanked god because Jason wasn't wearing his helmet. He was wearing his shirt. The one with a bat symbol in it—he crossed his arms over his chest as soon as he saw it wasn't Stephanie the one that had opened the door, but she was sure her mom had noticed. Stephanie cleared her throat and said, somewhat nervous, "Mom, this is… uh, Jacob."

"Um," was all he said.

"You know what," her mom muttered, "I'm not even going to ask about that shirt." She held up her hand for him to shake; Jason looked like he had been hit by a train, and Stephanie had to admit that it was funny seeing him so confused. "I'm very pleased to meet you, I'm Crystal."

"I'm Jacob, apparently," he said, amused.

"Be good with my daughter," her mom added.

After kissing her mom Stephanie hurried to get out of there, though she didn't know what was worse: her mom chastising her for going out—not really, but—with a guy with the bat symbol stamped in his chest or Jason asking her what the hell was going on and why his name wasn't Jason anymore. She didn't want to be in either of those situations, and wondered if she could escape from her doom.

As soon as they were out, Jason sputtered, "What the fuck was that?"

"My mom got a free night," she explained, shrugging. "I thought you would come in by the window, like last night."

Jason shook his head. " _I_ thought your mother was away," he said, hands in the pockets of his jacket. "You didn't tell me anything."

"You didn't _ask_."

"Just—" he grunted, and Stephanie's lips turned upwards. "Let's go."

"Whatever you say, grumpy."

He looked at her like _murder_ , and Stephanie was looking for it, really. "What are we doing now?"

"I'm walking you to the alleyway," he said, "and then I'll hide. The man's supposed to be there by midnight."

Now she was confused. "It's like, eleven o'clock."

"I like to be prepared," he said matter-of-fact.

"I could've finished the movie," she muttered.

Jason snorted. He sniffed the air like a dog, which was fucking _weird_ , and said, "Were you eating chocolate?"

 _Damn it_ , she'd forgotten to brush her teeth. _God, if you're up there, what have I done to displease you?_ "No."

"Hmm," was all he said.

They spend the rest of the walk in complete silence; Stephanie didn't know him much, but she'd thought that he was chatty like Dick—because, Jesus Christ, Damian and Tim were quiet enough, always focused in the mission. But Jason didn't speak any more words until they arrived to the alleyway, which left her time to think. She thought about how hungry she was even though she'd drunk a lot of hot chocolate and ate popcorns until her lips hurt because of the salt and then, when she thought about the salt, she realized that she was also thirsty—she considered asking Jason to stop somewhere and buy a bottle of water, but Stephanie didn't think he would stop for that, so she kept walking. Her feet hurt, and Stephanie now knew why Jason had wanted to meet so soon—the alleyway was far, far away.

"I'm cold," Stephanie muttered at some point just to see if that started a conversation, but Jason just chuckled to himself.

She really was cold, though—the denim jacket didn't keep her warm at all. And she wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was kind of tired; she knew she was supposed to be a creature of the night, a vigilante, but this morning she'd woken up real soon to finish some homework and study and was actually struggling right now to keep her eyes open.

"We're here," he finally said, and Stephanie was tempted to hug him.

"Where is your costume?"

Jason glared at her, and Stephanie lifted her chin, proud of herself. "Rooftop." He checked his watch. "It's almost time. I'm going to hide, and then when the time comes, I jump."

"You are so dramatic, you know that, right?"

Jason blushed, and Stephanie was going to explode from happiness tonight. She annoyed him so much it was funny. "Shut up and enter the alley, would you?"

She pouted. "That's it? I was hoping you'd give me a kiss at least."

Rolling his eyes, Jason showed her his middle finger—so mature—and went away, leaving Stephanie alone in a creepy, dark alleyway, which wasn't anything new, really. The worst came when she started to hear the thing she feared the most: rats, cockroaches walking in the shadows—she didn't mind being the bait to catch a killer or a drug seller or whatever this guy Jason wanted to bad was, but Stephanie couldn't deal with cockroaches on her own. Not now, not never.

A cat she couldn't see hissed, and Stephanie moaned. She tried leaning on the wall, but jerked back when she felt something sticky. Oh my god, where had Jason got her into? She just stood there, awkwardly, with her arms crossed over her chest; Stephanie looked upwards, trying to spot Jason on the rooftops, but he was nowhere to be seen. Babs' words came to her head, and Stephanie realized that maybe this was a trap—maybe he wanted to blackmail Bruce or something and was going to kidnap her… it was a stupid plan, but it _could_ be that.

Stephanie opened her mouth to call Jason and ask him a few things when someone entered the alleyway, and…

He was _beautiful_.

Stephanie had been expecting this short, old man with balding hair and wrinkles, but it was a tall, young man with long, auburn hair and a beard she was sure she would dream about. He had black skin and a dazzling smile that meant trouble was approaching. Clearing his throat, he took off his glasses to reveal cold, black eyes. Why did bad guys have to be so handsome? Why couldn't the guys at university look like this?

"Hello," he purred, and Stephanie smiled against her will.

"Hi," she purred too, trying to sound mature, because even though he was young, he wasn't _that_ young.

"They get younger every time," he said and, okay, that was creepy. "Well, do you have the money?"

"Of course." She didn't even have money of her own, but he didn't have to know that.

He chuckled. " _Where_?" He was looking at her boobs, and Stephanie was tempted to tell him that she wasn't even wearing a bra to keep the money, so _eyes up, buddy_. He took a step towards her, and Stephanie smiled—nervously.

She was starting to realize that this was a badly planned _plan_. If Jason didn't appear right now, Stephanie was sure that the guy would start to get touchy or notice that there was something wrong. Stephanie knew how to take care of herself, but come on, she was wearing a skirt. She was supposed to be the bait, and Jason was supposed to do the hard work.

"So?"

Goddammit. "Um, I want to see it first."

What was 'it'? She had no idea, but whatever gave her more time.

"Really?" He was looking at her like if she was a freaking piece of bacon, _oh my god_.

Stephanie opened her mouth to say… something, she didn't know very well what, but the guy was faster. "You know where those lips would look better? Around—"

"For fuck's sake," exclaimed Jason, who appeared in that exact same second, thank god. He walked into the alleyway, hands in pockets, and Stephanie just _knew_ he was grinning like a madman under the helmet.

The guy looked at her confused, and when Stephanie shrugged, he threw a punch at her. He was angry, impulsive, so she could dodge it easily. When the man was behind her, Stephanie kicked him, slamming his head against the sticky wall. Jason whistled, and Stephanie's brows furrowed when he saw him there, standing as if he'd planned all of this.

"I hate you," she sputtered, the guy moaning behind her. "You didn't even need me for this."

"I wanted to see how you worked." He picked a gun from his belt, and Stephanie's stomach turned.

"He's down already," she said, as if that alone could change his mind.

"Yeah, some of the kids he sold drugs are _down_ too." His voice was grim and dark, and wow, it was like hearing another person completely. He took a step forward, and Stephanie put herself between the guy, who was still half-conscious on the floor and Jason, who had his free hand curled into a fist. "Brown," he said, and he sounded really mad.

"You told me you wouldn't kill him," she said, though she knew it was futile.

"Well I _lied_."

Babs was right, this was going to end badly. "Listen, if you kill him now, he won't be punished, you'd be freeing him or whatever." She would give anything for seeing his face right now, fucking stupid helmet. "Let's call the police, I can speak with them, tell them he was trying to sell me something."

Jason shook his head. "You don't understand." He laughed, but it was sour and didn't have any humour. "If the police takes him, what? He would be in prison for how long? Three years? Four? And then he's out and selling shit again. Don't you see?"

He was kinda right, but Stephanie wasn't there to let him murder anyone. "You told me you wouldn't kill him tonight. I don't care if you kill him tomorrow or in a week, but tonight you don't. You promised," she tried.

"I didn't," he said.

" _Jason_ , please."

He grunted, and Stephanie could tell that she'd made it, that she'd convinced him not to kill this bastard tonight—she honestly didn't care if he killed him tomorrow—and she was so, so sure she'd done it. But then, as if in slow-motion, he looked down to the guy, and she followed his gaze just in time to see him stab a knife into her leg.

Stephanie screamed her lungs out and instinctively kicked his face with her un-stabbed leg before falling to the ground. Jason shot him in the shin—at least he didn't kill him, though now Stephanie was tempted to borrow his gun and commit murder herself. Jason cursed, they guy cried out in pain, and Stephanie was afraid to even think of what the hell was in the floor that was so goddamn _wet_.

"This wouldn't have happened if you'd just let me kill him," Jason said, helping her get up.

"Shut up," she said, trying not to cry. "This is all your fault. Oh my god, I'm going to catch at least a thousand infections for just standing here. My mom's not going to like you as her son-in-law after this."

Jason actually _laughed_. "Does it hurt too much?"

He was absolutely enjoying this. "No," she answered, gritting her teeth.

"I'm taking you to the manor." Before she could say something like, 'we can go to the hospital I'm wearing normal clothes' or 'Bruce is going to stick a batarang in out faces' Jason picked her up in bridal style, and Stephanie had never been more pleased in her whole _life_ than when they got out of the alleyway and a man saw them and immediately ran away screaming his head off.

"You could take your helmet off," she said.

"Where would be the fun in that?"

Stephanie sighed, though she was actually smiling. "Show-off."


End file.
